Nottingham Rugby suffered their third defeat in a row on Saturday 30 March when they were beaten 35-19 by Ealing Trailfinders at Vallis Way.
An improved performance from Neil Fowkes’ team was the only positive to take from a match that the Green and Whites struggled to dominate.
Despite the result, a competitive performance showed a glimpse of what is to come from the Green and Whites, with their young squad bouncing back somewhat from last week’s loss to Richmond at The Bay.
Nottingham withstood pressure from the home side early on, as both sides looked to break the deadlock. A cross kick from Craig Willis set up the first try of the game, with full back David Johnston touching the ball down to give the hosts the lead.
The sides looked to have balanced each other out for the remainder of the half until an Ealing five-metre scrum two minutes before half time resulted in a try for the hosts who solidified their lead with a conversion to put themselves 14-0 ahead.
Nottingham were slow out of the starting blocks in the second half and Ealing made them pay with a try just two minutes in. The conversion gave Fowkes’ men a mountain to climb.
However, an instant response from Shane Buckley gave the Green and Whites a glimmer of hope.
But it was to no avail, as Ealing came back with a converted try of their own on the 58th minute. Willis’ conversion put the hots 28-7 ahead with 20 minutes to play.
Nottingham put pressure on the hosts from the restart, winning the ball back and spreading it out wide to Jordan Coghlan who ran the ball over the line for a try. O’Leary’s conversion went wide.
Ealing then secured the win minutes later, scoring a try and converting to establish a 35-12 lead with 12 minutes to play.
A consolation try from Billy Robinson and conversion from O’Leary was the last action of the match as Nottingham headed home with their third loss in a row.
Next up, Nottingham travel to Coventry for their penultimate away game of the season.
Advance tickets for Nottingham’s final home match of the season on Friday 19 April against Jersey Reds can be purchased here.